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| Larson Classroom Laboratory |
The goal of this day's lesson is for students to compare and contrast the major ideas of 16th -18th century political thinkers with the revolutions of the United States and France, and their influence on Latin American revolutions. They will meet the standards of understanding the connections between ideas and events.
Last week, for the day one lesson, I reviewed learning comparing and contrasting Hobbes and Locke's political ideas and how they influenced the monarchy of France and the Glorious Revolution respectively.
With my students gathered in groups of two, I began with a formative warm-up of questions to assess what students may already know. During my last lesson, I began with a pre-assessment, I asked several questions that required a strong prior vocabulary base. This lesson my questions were came with a list of possible answers that contained the needed vocabulary. My intention was to get a better idea of their actual content formation by observing them in discussion where their ideas would show in their own language. I think this is especially useful for EL students who have two means to express understanding. The questions were as follows:
1. What was the main differences in the Social Contract Theories of Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
2. What was the contribution of John Locke's ideas to the Declaration of Independence?
3. What contribution did Charles de Montesquieu make to the United States Constitution?
4. Name an 18th century political thinker who influenced the Latin American revolutionary Simon Bolivar.
Each pair of students discussed the questions and brainstormed possible connections to last weeks learning and where we were going today. Then, we discussed their ideas as a whole group. From this discussion and the sharing by each pair of their answers, I was able to ascertain that my students had a good understanding of the contrasting ideas of the Social Contract Theories and they understood Locke's ideas, although they hadn't connected them to the Declaration of Independence before. With that in mind, I handed out guided note taking sheets and introduced them to a video from the Khan Academy discussing the connection between the ideas of John Locke and the Declaration of Independence.
Next, I had each of the pairs discuss how learning about the ideas of individuals during the Enlightenment could help them gain a deeper understanding of the democratic revolutions that took place.
Next, I presented a PowerPoint section featuring the political thinkers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles de Montesquieu, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Simon Bolivar. Each slide contained a picture, a list of writings, bullets of key ideas, and a quote. Students were given copies of the slides to review and discuss.
After going over the slides, I handed out graphic organizers called Social Contract: Two Views. I wanted students to understand that one of the foundations of differences in political thought had to do with the view these thinkers held in regard to the social contract that bound individuals and society. Each organizer compared and contrasted the views of a). Locke and Rousseau b) Jefferson and Bolivar c) Madison and Montesquieu. Each pair could use the PowerPoint notes but also were encouraged to use internet History Web sites and other references such as printouts of primary source documents. They were given the remainder of the period to work on this and would discuss their findings at the next class.
My post-assessment would consist of this pair research and the discussion they would engage in at the next class.
One of the strongest differences between this lesson and the prior one is that I engaged students in more meta cognition. They were asked to evaluate how they could think about information they found and they discussed together, meaningful ways these ideas could be interconnected. They needed information to form conclusions and this created a need-to-know cause to go about research. Therefore, they could enter into research having already formed questions in their own minds, between themselves and which were based upon prior knowledge. This created a bridge between concepts and the events they were to study next.
Next, I had each of the pairs discuss how learning about the ideas of individuals during the Enlightenment could help them gain a deeper understanding of the democratic revolutions that took place.
Next, I presented a PowerPoint section featuring the political thinkers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles de Montesquieu, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Simon Bolivar. Each slide contained a picture, a list of writings, bullets of key ideas, and a quote. Students were given copies of the slides to review and discuss.
After going over the slides, I handed out graphic organizers called Social Contract: Two Views. I wanted students to understand that one of the foundations of differences in political thought had to do with the view these thinkers held in regard to the social contract that bound individuals and society. Each organizer compared and contrasted the views of a). Locke and Rousseau b) Jefferson and Bolivar c) Madison and Montesquieu. Each pair could use the PowerPoint notes but also were encouraged to use internet History Web sites and other references such as printouts of primary source documents. They were given the remainder of the period to work on this and would discuss their findings at the next class.
My post-assessment would consist of this pair research and the discussion they would engage in at the next class.
One of the strongest differences between this lesson and the prior one is that I engaged students in more meta cognition. They were asked to evaluate how they could think about information they found and they discussed together, meaningful ways these ideas could be interconnected. They needed information to form conclusions and this created a need-to-know cause to go about research. Therefore, they could enter into research having already formed questions in their own minds, between themselves and which were based upon prior knowledge. This created a bridge between concepts and the events they were to study next.
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